ratify

English

WOTD – 14 July 2007

Etymology

From Old French ratifier, from Medieval Latin ratifico, from Latin ratus (“reckoned”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹætɪfaɪ/, /ˈɹætəfaɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ætɪfaɪ

Verb

ratify (third-person singular simple present ratifies, present participle ratifying, simple past and past participle ratified)

1. (transitive) To give formal consent to; make officially valid, sign off on.

   They ratified the treaty.

   • 1912, Noah Ablett, The Miners' Next Step:

     Thus the workmen decide the principle, the Executive carry it out. The agent provides information and negotiates. The Conference finally ratifies or disapproves.

   • 1950, William H. Fitzpatrick, Government by Treaty:

     If the Senate ratifies the covenant on human rights and the Supreme Court upholds it under the established principles outlined above, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of peaceful assembly may be destroyed by our own Government at any time by an official proclamation of a state of emergency.

Synonyms

• (give formal consent to): approve

Derived terms

• nonratifying
• ratifiable

Related terms

• ratification
• ratifier

Translations

give formal consent to

Belarusian: ратыфікава́ць impf or pf (ratyfikavácʹ) Bulgarian: утвърждавам (utvǎrždavam), ратифицирам (bg) (ratificiram) Cebuano: uyon Chinese: Mandarin: 批准 (zh) (pīzhǔn) Czech: ratifikovat Danish: ratificere (da) Dutch: bekrachtigen (nl), ratificeren (nl) Esperanto: ratifi Finnish: vahvistaa (fi), ratifioida French: ratifier (fr) German: bestätigen (de), ratifizieren (de) (treaty) Greek: Ancient: κυρόω (kuróō) Hebrew: אשרר (ishrér) Hungarian: ratifikál (hu) Icelandic: staðfesta (is) Irish: daingnigh Italian: ratificare (it) Japanese: 批准する (ja) (ひじゅんする, hijun suru) Latin: ratihabeō Latvian: ratificēt Manx: shickyree Maori: whakamana, whakapūmau Polish: ratyfikować (pl), zatwierdzać (pl) impf, zatwierdzić (pl) pf Portuguese: ratificar (pt) Romanian: ratifica (ro) Russian: ратифици́ровать (ru) impf or pf (ratificírovatʹ), утвержда́ть (ru) impf or pf (utverždátʹ), утверди́ть (ru) pf (utverdítʹ), одобря́ть (ru) impf (odobrjátʹ), одо́брить (ru) pf (odóbritʹ) Spanish: ratificar (es) Swedish: ratificera (sv), stadfästa (sv), bekräfta (sv) Thai: ให้สัตยาบัน (hâi-sàt-dtà-yaa-ban) Turkish: onaylamak (tr) Ukrainian: ратифікува́ти impf or pf (ratyfikuváty)